


The past and the present

by RickardoTheAvacardo



Series: A copper and his cat [10]
Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Gen, Memories, Mentions of James Hathaway's mum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-04-06 00:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4200306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RickardoTheAvacardo/pseuds/RickardoTheAvacardo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The following evening...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The past and the present

**Author's Note:**

  * For [owlbsurfinbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlbsurfinbird/gifts).



> Beta read by MissionImpossible  
> A gift for Owlbsurfinbird for inspiring me to write this.
> 
> Just to note that this will not make sense unless you have read the previous story (Sentimental things) as this is set straight after it.  
> If you are triggered by brain tumors then I suggest that you don't read this story but I must say that this fic doesnt go into detail about the subject.

As the evening came to a beginning Emily sat on the window sill waiting for James to return home to the flat which was a lot less than habitable. .

At 8pm Emily was awoken from her sleep by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway of Hathaway’s and her house. Suddenly Emily remembered about the huge mess that still remained on the living room floor. But as she saw James get out of the car and walk towards the front door Emily quickly decided to make an exit and shot off like a comet out of the cat flap without hesitation.

Meanwhile fumbling with his keys James unlocked the front door and the minute he walked into the flat his eyes widened as he immediately noticed that the state of his living room was far from the tidy, spotless room that he had happily left this morning. Hathaway’s eyes were fixed on the mess that he could only describe as a monstrosity. James slowly walked over to the mess to take a closer look at what damage had been done. He picked up on of his Cd cases which had snapped in half and the actual Cd was buried in the deep chaotic mess along with many other things.

“It looks like a bloody tornado has been in here!” Hathaway bellowed.

After James had calmed down he began to pick up all the Cd cases which were mostly snapped in half along with the Cd that belonged in the case. He then got out his dust pan and brush and swept up the smithereens of figurines which were also the victim of the avalanche that happened on Hathaway’s shelf earlier that day. Finally he picked up all of his books and straightened out the bent pages that were caused by the fall.

Once Hathaway had finished sorting out all his things that belonged on the shelf, he sat down on the sofa and put his feet up on the foot rest. Hathaway’s attention suddenly turned to the coffee table as he could swear that there was something unusual under it. At first he thought that Emily had brought a bird in and left it there. This brought back memories for James as he suddenly remembered the time Emily had brought in a medium size bird which unfortunately for James was alive and flying around the living room like a whirlwind and the worst part of it was the fact that Hathaway had no choice but to turn up to work not only being 45 minutes late but also covered in bird feathers. Hathaway also remembered the following afternoon when he got the confidence to tell Robbie what had happened, luckily for him Robbie had found it amusing and said _welcome to the world of cats’ lad, there will be many more thrills to come it’s just one of those things you have to deal with when having a cat, believe me Monty has taught me everything I know._ James chuckled at the memory and said under his breath “smart words Robbie”.

Hathaway’s attention then returned to the object that was still laying face forward under the table. As James walked over to the other side of the table and kneeled down his eyes widened for the second time as his eyes absorbed that the object was his golden brown memory box. He quickly grabbed it from under the table and clutched it to his chest and whispered to himself “Please don’t let anything be broken”. He took a deep breath and slowly opened the box and searched through the contents making sure that nothing was broken. James let out a sigh of relief as nothing had been permanently damaged. Satisfied that everything was in order James got up and put the box on the coffee table.

During Hathaway’s inspection of the mess Emily had remained in the garden under a bush in total darkness with only her bright green eyes to show where she was hiding. When hearing Hathaway’s shouting Emily had begun to shake violently terrified of what Hathaway might do if he found out where she was. After a while of staying hidden Emily felt her stomach rumbling and nearly went towards the cat flap hoping that James had fed her, but after hearing Hathaway putting things away Emily ran straight back under the bush.

After getting out the cat food and calling for Emily four times Hathaway began to worry. Normally Emily would be there faster than a shooting star when her food was ready but his instincts told him that Emily was hiding somewhere outside. James put the bowl down on the kitchen worktop and opened the garden door and looked around for Emily with a torch in hand hoping that Emily would come out. After having no luck in finding her Hathaway raced to the kitchen to grab her food bowl and waved around the ground, desperately trying to get her attention.

Emily’s emerald green eyes suddenly widened as she saw her food bowl being waved right in front of her she couldn’t resist. Emily then crept out of the bush and when seeing Hathaway’s look of pure worry she walked over to him and gave him a small meow.

Hathaway’s hand went to stroke Emily on the back and she couldn’t help but purr loudly as she could clearly see that he wasn’t angry with her.

After scoffing her food in less than five minutes Emily happily walked over to the sofa where James was and jumped lightly onto his lap. James let out a small smile before stroking Emily on the back.

While Emily was curled up and sound asleep on Hathaway’s lap James slowly and carefully leaned forward to reach for the golden brown box that he had left on the coffee table. When Hathaway opened up the box and took out one of the photos, Emily opened one eye as she saw James going through the contents of the box with a sad facial expression. When James finally noticed Emily looking at the box he began to stroke her back again and decided to tell her about the memories that each object held.

“This photo was taken on my mums wedding day” James said in a low voice as he stared at the photo. Emily let out a small meow as if she was telling him to carry on.

James sighed before continuing “Her name was Miranda which in Latin means admirable or wonderful and she was true to her name”. James stared at the photo for a while longer trying to remember everything he could about her. “Oh I remember this” James said as he fished out a piece of paper with a fair amount of neatly joined up writing. “When I was 12 I decided to do some more research on her full name” Hathaway let out a small smirk. “The name Miranda was created by Shakespeare for the heroine in his play The Tempest written in 1611. Her name is also the name of one of the moons of the planet Uranus.

_Trust Hathaway to know facts like that was Emily’s short thought._

James then continued “Her middle name was Claire and the Latin meaning for that is bright and clear which my mother certainly was”.

James then put that photo back and took out another photo; it was the photo when James and the little girl were small children.

“This photo was taken on my mums 30th birthday, I was only 3 years old at the time” James then sighed sadly. “Unfortunately it was her last happy birthday “. James then sat back and closed his eyes while forcing out sentence. “She became ill shortly before her 31st birthday, we didn’t know what it was at first but when we no choice but to take her to hospital we found out she had a brain tumour. I was 4 years old and my sister was 7 when we found out that we could be losing our mum. I remember on my 5th birthday I spent the whole day praying for my mum to get better and to be part of my life again”. James coughed before speaking again. “Unfortunately God decided to turn my wish down, as my mum was rushed into hospital one night , they found that the tumour had got bigger and swelled up in her brain and two days before my mums and dads anniversary she passed away”.

Emily looked up at Hathaway, trying to look for any tears that might have found their way past his eyes.

James sniffed then said “I know this may sound strange but in a way it was a relief when she went, her suffering was over and I believe to this very day that she is now peaceful in heaven”.

Emily let out another small meow as if she was saying _I wonder if you would tell Robbie any of this?_

James looked at Emily for a minute before saying “But since then my life has changed, I used to mourn over my mum all the time when I was younger but then I realised that I should be grateful for the things I have got and I’m extremely grateful that I have Robbie and that I also have you Emily. James smiled at Emily before saying. “My mum once said be grateful for what you have got because once it’s gone it’s gone”.


End file.
